David Gelbard on leading DME's digital ordering revolution
Parachute Health’s own David Gelbard sat down with SmartTRAK’s Susan Paquette to discuss how the Parachute Platform came to be, the challenges he faced along the way, how our digital DME ordering tech benefits suppliers and vendors, and his hopes and plans for the future.
Describing the Parachute Health approach of partnering with all players — large and small — across the DME ecosystem, David said: “The idea is that in the same way the fax is a utility today, we're hoping to function the exact same way as a vital utility that all the players in the market can use, from the DME suppliers to prescribers, payers and manufacturers.” This makes it easier for suppliers to do business, creates minimal friction for providers and ordering clinicians, and makes the platform attractive on all sides of the ecosystem.
Healthcare providers seeking to optimize patient care are drawn to the “speed and reliability across our network of national providers," David explained, while "suppliers have 99% acceptance rates nationwide, speedy same-day delivery, and a three-minute response time, which to me is best in class and hits at the core mission of making sure if a patient needs something that it shows up at their door.”
When David set out to build the Parachute Platform, he knew it would take a great deal of user research and advice from experts in the healthcare industry. And balancing the drive to iterate with the need to create tech that could address range of DME ordering challenges for suppliers and clinicians alike was essential. By taking time to understand exactly what was needed, it was possible to create “a product with everyone in mind: the hospitals, the payers and the supply side community, and all, obviously, for the benefit of the patient.”
“...a product with everyone in mind: the hospitals, the payers and the supply side community, and all, obviously, for the benefit of the patient.”
On the DME supply side, the Parachute Platform improves order visibility and supports effortless communication with clinicians to resolve questions and documentation requirements. “Successful suppliers will be able to fill more orders correctly, which means they're ultimately able to gain the benefit of labor productivity, higher order fill-rate on accurate orders that tie to the insurance rules, and by submitting the order faster to the payer, they're able to get paid faster too,” David explained.
“Successful suppliers will be able to fill more orders correctly, which means they're ultimately able to gain the benefit of labor productivity, higher order fill-rate on accurate orders that tie to the insurance rules, and by submitting the order faster to the payer... get paid faster too.”
Looking to the future, David discussed next steps for enabling more suppliers so that they’re able to ensure patients get the DME they need, when they need it.
In particular, keeping the DME industry healthy in light of the changing reimbursement landscape was on his mind as one of the driving forces for the company: “The more efficient [ordering] is, the lower cost it can become, and I think just all around, it becomes an obvious no-brainer. You see it in every other industry from ordering shoes online, to food online, to anything in between.”
“This industry has to go next,” he added. “It's too critical of an infrastructure to still be faxed or held in a paper stack until a supplier salesperson comes by and grabs the information.”
Visit SmartTRAK’s website to access the complete interview and learn how Parachute Health grew into a thriving business in use at 40,000 different sites of care, from hospitals, nursing homes and doctor’s offices to home health and hospice agencies, with a network of over 100,000 physicians and prescribers (and counting).
Healthcare providers: Try delightfully simple DME ordering today.
Suppliers: Find out how Parachute can help modernize your order intake today.
